SHANE HURNDELL
H astings West Ross Shield rugby player Texas Timu cops plenty of flak about his first name from his teammates. "Yeah a few of the boys call me Taxi and ask me for rides," said the Peterhead School 12-year-old after this week's capping ceremony for the team.
He was named Texas after the nickname given to the Eastern Bay of Plenty township of Te Teko where his grandparents hail from. While his teammates rib him about his name none question his Ross Shield whakapapa as it's up with the best.
The Western Suburbs 12th grade winger who returned to rugby this season after a six-year spell and was called into the Hastings West team only a fortnight ago, is a younger brother of Hawke's Bay under-18 fullback Star Timu, who was the player of the 2003 Ross Shield tournament in Waipukurau and the "star" (if you'll excuse the pun) of the winning West side.
Timu is also a nephew of former All Black winger Roger Randle who played in the 1986 Hastings side which won the Ross Shield and a distant cousin of another former All Black winger, John Timu, who had two years in the Dannevirke Ross Shield side, including the title-winning 1982 team.
"Uncle Roger was my hero ... I used to watch him heaps," said Timu, who is the third of five brothers in his family to play for West.
Another of his older brothers, Lance, played for West in 2004.
To top off his family's strong Ross Shield connection, Timu's cousin, second five-eighth Keha Timu, will also play for West in next week's tournament at Napier's Park Island. "We didn't even now we were cousins until we both started playing for Western Suburbs together," he said.
"Yeah, that's right," said Irongate School's Keha who is a younger brother of former Ross Shield player Kotahi Timu. "We combined well for our club side ... now the goal is to do it for West," said Keha.
A Tana Umaga fan, Keha has been playing for only two years. He has enjoyed soccer in the past.
Although the Timu cousins have been playing rugby for a short time, pundits would be fools not to expect big things from them next week.
After all, when it comes to Ross Shield rugby the surname, Timu, is "Bigger than Texas" if you'll excuse another pun.
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